Embedded writing tutors can increase students’ skills and prompt them to seek help from peers.
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Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of incoming college students have struggled to get a foothold in higher education. The EAB’s September report found undergraduates can’t keep up with the rigors of their courses and struggle with academics, and many graduate students seek help teaching writing skills.
Another opportunity to meet this skills gap is through teaching. May 2024 Student Voice Survey conducted by Within Higher Ed and Generation Lab found one-third of respondents (27 percent) believed that if colleges and universities encouraged study groups or peer learning opportunities, it would increase their academic success.
A long-term initiative at Colby College in Maine focuses on academic writing for faculty, working with faculty to ensure that students meet expectations and succeed academically. The writing fellows program supports writing-focused courses in all disciplines and provides greater interaction between the writing center and students.
Research: Tutoring is a high-impact practice that can benefit students’ sense of connection to their institution and improve their academic results, but students often do not use this service.
Focused teaching brings the resource one degree closer to the student by assigning a specific instructor to a creditable course, allowing the instructor to integrate general skills into the course content. Previous research shows that lesson-centered peer writing support can lead to improved learning for incoming students and teach teachers how to engage in collaborative learning and foster growth mindsets.
How does this work: Like many colleges, Colby has a writing center that employs peer writing tutors to help students with their writing processes. Since 2009, the center has hired writing associates who go the extra mile and are assigned to a specific subject, supporting faculty and students in a more targeted way.
Faculty members can request a scribe for any course that requires writing or a first-year seminar (called W1s at Colby) that they may be teaching. Depending on the type of course, students hold various job responsibilities such as leading class review sessions on writing-related topics, providing feedback on lab reports or advising students on their group writing projects.
The center employs between 15 and 20 students as fellows each term, and the fellows work up to six hours a week both in the classroom and at drop-in or drop-in meetings. To be considered a teacher, students are not required to be part of a specific major, but must complete a four-credit, semester-long training course that includes both the teaching and technical aspects of teaching.
“They study the history of writing centers, analyze videos of actual teaching sessions, and practice teaching,” according to a college release. “Students also learn how to use the Socratic method with the students they will teach, which encourages critical thinking by asking questions and listening carefully.”
Instructors learn to write in all areas, such as lab reports, examples, application essays and answer writing, so they can effectively help any student who may need help.
Reason: This program accomplishes several goals for student success, first and foremost it helps students become more confident and proficient in their writing.
By embedding writing partners in courses, students become more aware of other peer learning opportunities and writing resources offered by the college.
Faculty are encouraged to collaborate with their writing colleagues, share materials, present themselves to students and gather peer feedback on student feedback on course assignments after major assignments.
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